Page 32 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

32. DIFFERENT

CAMERON

The soft cuddly bit did not last for much longer.

Before long, Cam’s fever hit. He was restless, itchy, needy.

River was there. A comfort. Offering his touch and taste and scent.

Cam took it all and demanded more. A haze of need and pleasure.

It was hot. So hot. In the room, beneath his skin. He ached and he wanted and he needed.

He buried his face in River’s neck, the familiar, comfortable scent of late nights and scribbles hard to find on his beta skin.

He lapped at the skin, the taste closer to what he sought, as he tried to pull River closer, but they were already as close as they could be.

River, deep inside him, above him, around him. Cameron was attached to him, chest to chest, hips barely moving as the latest orgasm faded, barely dousing the inferno of the heat.

His body tightened, arched, the fake knot River wore snug within, but he still craved more.

At first it had been enough, quenching the craving, but the waves were no longer slowing down. They were arriving in increasing frequency, and it was wearing on River.

He was just one man, one beta.

One very sweaty, red-faced, pleasure-drenched beta with his hands on Cam’s hips, dragging him closer, offering his neck for Cameron to lose himself in.

Cameron loved him, but every cell in his body screamed for what an omega was built for: a knot.

An alpha.

Any alpha.

Even the one on the other side of the door was smelling alright. Fresh-cut grass and green and sunshine.

But the scent driving him mad was tucked under his pillow. Ginger and citrus, invigorating him every time he smelled it. And with every hour it was fading, until even now it was hardly a memory.

He whined, and River gathered him close. “What is it? What can I do for you?” he asked.

Cameron stared up at River, his messy blond hair askew, sweat shining on his bare skin, a couple love bites and bruises beginning to color.

They’d been through so many heats together, locked away in the privacy of Cameron’s home, and they’d always come and gone without issue.

This time was different. Why?

Was there something wrong with him?

“Don’t stress,” River said, and carded a hand through Cameron’s hair, petting, soothing.

Cameron nuzzled into him and shut his eyes, convinced he could lie to himself just a few days more.

But his mind kept wandering, and the cramps came in waves, and even though River’s fake knot was still locked inside him, Cam already felt the next one approaching.

He was tired. He wanted relief.

He wanted an alpha. He wanted a knot.

A lock.

A whine tore out of him at just the thought of it, and he bucked, chasing something that River couldn’t give him.

“Tell me what you need, Cam, please,” River begged. “How can I help?”

Cam swallowed, River’s scent heavy on his tongue, but not enough.

“I need, ah, I—“ He bit down on his lip because he knew what he needed, but some part of him knew that if he asked for it, something would change, and he didn’t know what.

River’s hands framed his face and tilted him up. “Tell me. You can trust me.”

“Alpha,” Cam whispered, opening his eyes, baring the desperation he knew would shine out of them. “I need an alpha. Please, alpha.”

It was a constant loop in his mind. Alpha, relief, knot, lock, alpha.

“Ashley,” he practically moaned, and his hips shifted, but the fake knot was already deflating.

“Are you sure?” River asked.

Cam nodded, turning back to him. “Do you think she’d come?” Cam asked. “Really?”

River flipped them, tucking Cam close to his body and turning to lay him down into the nest. “Cam, I think that alpha would drop everything for you,” River said softly.

Cam’s very heart stilled at River’s words. “Yeah?”

River’s lips curled, and if there was a sprinkle of hurt behind those pretty eyes, it was gone before Cam could decide if it was real or imagined.

“Yeah, Cam. So I want you to be sure. She’s mated to Dylan, remember?”

Cam whined, pushing his head into the pillow. “Fuck. I forgot. I don’t want Dylan,” he said. “Not like that. I only want Ashley.”

“Okay, okay. I can call her.”

“Really?” Cam repeated, hope in his chest. Shortly, the knot deflated and River pulled out of him, and Cam whined with the loss of the pressure.

“Can you wait that long?” River asked, nipping at his cheek. “Wait long enough for the alpha to get here? To lock you?”

Cam shuddered, cock twitching despite the orgasm still fading from his system. “Yeah, yes. I’ll wait.”

“Okay, baby, let me call her,” River said, and kissed him on the lips.

Cam knew he had to leave in order to get his phone, and yet Cam hated the inches that separated them, the cool air that filled River’s place.

“You’ll come back, right?” Cam asked, turning to follow River’s body with his gaze as the beta headed toward the bathroom.

“Of course I will. I’ll come right back after I call her, promise.”

He cleaned up, wiping some of their fluids from his body and donning a robe.

Cam couldn’t wait to take that right off him.

“I’ll bring back a snack while we wait for her,” River said, and Cam nodded.

As the door shut behind him, Cam sucked in a breath. The plastic scent from the blankets and pillows was long gone, drenched in Cam’s own honey and vanilla.

He hated being alone during a heat. The room felt too big, too empty, and Cam closed his eyes, pulling a blanket over his head. It smelled like River.

He liked to imagine he could hear the murmur of their voices as River and Dylan exchanged words, but the nest was soundproof, so it was likely his own imagination.

Ashley.

Would she really come?

She wouldn’t say no, right?

He was a male omega, about as rare as a female alpha. At the very least, surely she wouldn’t turn down an invitation to fuck him. To lock him six ways to Sunday because that’s what their bodies were made to do.

A whine tore from his throat at just the thought of it.

He never wanted alphas during his heat. They were all gross and dumb and domineering and challenged boundaries just because they could.

Then again, he’d never met an alpha whose existence challenged his opinion of said alphas.

Like Ashley.

Ashley was different.

And he wanted her. Had from the moment she’d told him his roundhouse sucked.

He hoped she wanted him, too.